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TOKYO — There are a number of burning questions ahead of the upcoming NBA season, but a few of them really stand out: How will LeBron James and Anthony Davis mesh with the Lakers; Do Kawhi Leonard and Paul George make the Clippers the favourites and can James Harden and Russell Westbrook successfully play together with the Rockets?

We’ll leave the first two for another time, but we got a chance to hear from the Rockets first-hand about the latter query on Sunday after Westbrook was able to go through his one of his first full runs with his teammates since being acquired from Oklahoma City.

Westbrook, Harden excited about partnership for Rockets after early work togetherBack to video

“In the last two or three practices he’s done the whole practice so he’s about ready,” head coach Mike D’Antoni said when asked by the Toronto Sun how Westbrook is progressing following surgery.

“It takes a while to find out everything he does and he hasn’t been able to practice a lot, but now he’s starting to ramp it up and it’s just going to take a while. Hopefully not too long,” D’Antoni said.

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Westbrook said he isn’t too worried about how long it takes to gel and he sounded like a player out to prove his doubters wrong once again. In particular, that his one-man army style of attacking with a shaky outside game won’t be a bad fit with the Rockets, who spread the floor and bomb away more than any other squad and also have Harden masterminding everything.

“Try to find ways to be active try to understand what to sacrifice and do what’s best for the betterment of the team and helps us (get to) winning the game,” Westbrook said. “That’s what I need to prove right now, is just to win basketball games and win a championship.”

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Houston has been at the forefront of the analytics movement, eschewing mid-range shots in favour of three-pointers and shots at the rim for years now. P.J. Tucker had to adjust when he arrived after leaving the Raptors, but doesn’t think the former NBA MVP will have that hard of a time figuring it out.

“I don’t think it will be tough. It’s tough for everyone when you first get here, you see it (the Rockets way). You look at it and it seems simple and it is, but it’s a different way of playing,” Tucker said. “I think he’ll fit right in. Russ plays so hard, it’s hard to go against anything he does. His aggressiveness is going to open up so much for everyone else because you have to help. It’s hard for anybody to play him 1-on-1, so we just need him to do what he does. I think if he does what he does then everything will be great.”

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Harden agreed with Tucker and sounded thrilled about reuniting with his good friend and former Oklahoma City teammate.

“His skillset, the way he pushes the basketball, the way he can finish, the way he’s able to make plays, it’s a different dynamic then we’ve had since I’ve been here,” Harden said.

“Just his speed, his ability to get to the rim and create so much attention and kick out for shot opportunities for his teammates. It’s exciting. He’s excited. It’s a new journey for him. We’ve all embraced him.”

It won’t all come together overnight — at one point in the first scrimmage in Japan the two superstars went to the same spot and actually collided with each other — but in time, this should be quite the pairing.

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Head coach Mike D’Antoni is confident their pick-and-roll game will be all but impossible to deal with for opponents.

“When you’ve got two of the best players to ever play the game, obviously if they (defenders) switch it, great, if they don’t, their (isolations) are going to be great. Somebody is going to pay,” D’Antoni said. Either opponents will have to help out, likely creating opportunities to get easy buckets on dump offs or other passes, or Harden or Westbrook will use their supreme 1-on-1 skills to beat individual defenders.

“We’ll figure it out. We’re going to be good, we’ll just see how good we can be,” D’Antoni said.

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Westbrook’s intensity and relentless style of play should also boost the Rockets.

At the end of the scrimmage he huddled up with the team and barked out some words of wisdom.

What was Westbrook saying? “Keep the pace up. Got to keep your motor going,” he said.

“(It’s) something I can bring to this team, something that I strive (for),” Westbrook said. “To be the best-conditioned athlete on the floor. It’s something I try to do.”

The Raptors will be the first team to try to solve the Harden/Westbrook riddle in exhibition play either on Tuesday or Thursday.

GM MOREY CLEARS THE AIR ABOUT TWEET

Embroiled in a bit of a controversy, Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted out a clarification on Monday morning from Tokyo.

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“I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China,” Morey tweeted. “I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event. I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other perspectives.

“I have always appreciated the significant support our Chinese fans and sponsors have provided and I would hope that those who are upset will know that offending or misunderstanding them was not my intention. My tweets are my own and in no way represent the Rockets or the NBA.”

A day earlier, Houston’s owner had made it clear he didn’t agree with Morey’s initial tweet, which has since been deleted, expressing support for the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. In the wake of that tweet, some Chinese countries severed ties with the Rockets, who have a long and lucrative history with China owing to the connection with former Rockets star Yao Ming. Reports had the Rockets considering firing Morey, regarded as one of the NBA’s top general managers, before his new tweets on Monday.

A day earlier head coach Mike D’Antoni had said Morey had not addressed the Rockets. “No he didn’t discuss anything in front of the team and I don’t really feel comfortable commenting,” D’Antoni said. “It’s not our job.”

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